by KB Winters
“Gotta make sure I’m ready for the big leagues when they come callin’. See you later, beautiful.” He walked away and stopped in the middle of the restaurant. “I made the chili fresh last night, hoping I’d see you.”
“Thanks, Leander.”
He waved and headed toward the outdoor seating area in front. “He wants you, Kat. Trust me.”
With a wink, the kid pushed out the front door with a wide smile for the young girls.
Pearly gave me a long look, studying me hard before a wide smile flashed.
“What’ll it be?”
I nodded to Kat and Pearly shook her head. “French onion soup and chili cheese fries. Now you.”
“I’ll have a cheeseburger with bacon. And onion rings.”
“Got it,” she said and finished scribbling in her leather-bound notebook before she looked up with one hand on her hip and mischievous smile just for Kat.
“I was beginning to wonder what the point was of all that beauty. Now I see.” She aimed her head at me as if I couldn’t tell she was talking about me.
“Well done, girl.”
“Oh, he’s not mine,” she said easily, but I could see the tension around her eyes. “Terry is an old family friend, my brother’s best friend, in fact.”
“I see,” Pearly said.
I wanted to ask what the hell she saw because I didn’t see a damn thing.
“Well maybe you ought to find a man to make this one jealous. It worked for me and Rod, and twenty-two-years later he won’t let me forget it.” Pearly let out a long laugh and shook her head. “I’ll be back with food, and drinks since it looks like Leander is occupied.”
Kat laughed and glanced outside. “My money is on the quiet, dark-haired girl.”
“Really? I told Rod it would be the blonde in the red blouse, bet five bucks on it.” Pearly shook her head, grumbling under her breath as she walked away.
Who in the hell was this woman? I knew Kat wasn’t a spoiled princess, even if I gave her shit about it nonstop for the past decade and a half, but this was unexpected even for her.
And when the food came, she dug into it like a regular woman, not a prissy bitch who grew up in the lap of luxury. She wasn’t self-conscious about the messy meal in front of her, smiling and moaning with every bite. Licking her lips and her fingers, making it hard to focus on my own damn meal.
Really fucking hard.
“You’re staring,” she said around a bite of chili cheese fries.
I was staring. A lot. And I couldn’t tell her why, so I leaned forward and swiped a bit of chili and cheese from her bottom lip.
“Watching you eat is an experience, Kat.”
She smiled and nodded to my half empty plate. “How do you like the food?”
“It’s delicious, but the sounds you make when you eat are… distracting.”
“You mean this sound,” she said and let out a low moan, similar to the one I heard on the balcony. At my obvious discomfort she laughed. “Guess so.”
“Yeah. It’s almost as good as the one I pulled from you.”
It was my turn to enjoy Kat’s reaction, which included red cheeks and blue eyes that darkened with desire at the memory.
“That was impressive,” she admitted. “But so long ago I barely remember it.”
“Just say the word and I’m happy to remind you.” We were both playing with fire, but lately, it seemed as if Kat had forgotten that fact.
She leaned back, a knowing smile on her face as she folded her arms and notched her chin up slightly.
“Word.”
At my stunned expression, she finished off the last of her fries, licked her fingers and slid from the booth. “Just what I thought, you’re all talk, Manning.”
Kat Ashby was an irresistible challenge, one I found harder and harder to ignore. Especially when she threw down the gauntlet like she just had and walked away with that swing in her hips.
“Man you got it bad with a capital B.” Leander stood beside me, snickering like the kid he was, but he wasn’t wrong.
“It’s complicated,” I growled at him even though my anger wasn’t directed at the kid.
“Naw, man, it ain’t. What’s complicated is watching your girl be happy with someone else ‘cause you’re too much of a nutsac go to for her.”
I chuckled. “A nutsac?”
“Yeah, a nutsac.” The kid shrugged. “Pearly said pussies are stronger than a nutsac, and if I didn’t believe her, she had some birthing videos I could watch.” The kid shuddered visibly. “Gettin’ kicked in the nuts hurts, and I don’t even wanna imagine a baby coming out of my dickhole, so nutsac.”
He pointed to where Kat stood chatting with Pearly as she paid the tab. “Don’t be a nutsac, man.”
I must be losing my mind if I was even thinking about taking advice from a high school kid with a crush on my girl.
Not your girl if you keep pushing her away.
Good point. I stood with a determined smile and went to Kat. It was time to shit or get off the pot.
***
“You’ve got some colorful friends, Kitty Kat.” And it only made the woman more likable if that was even fucking possible.
She laughed. “Leander and Pearly, sure, but Rodrigo is as normal as they come.” Her smile for the bistro workers was pure affection, as if she were talking about one of her brothers. “He’s a lot like Emmett, actually.”
“Because of the military thing?” The sun was shining bright and hot outside so I blasted the cool air and maneuvered out of the tight parking area.
“Some, sure. I mean they both carry themselves like they were professional, government-trained bad asses. But they both have this quiet strength that just makes you feel like you can trust them.”
“Is that why you offered so much money to send Emmett food?” I appreciated that she thought of my brother as one of her own, but the woman was a horrible negotiator.
“Yes and no. Emmett’s been down since the fight, and he won’t admit it. I figured some greasy food and someone to talk to might do him some good.”
I felt her gaze on my face as we drove through Glitz back toward the casino. “What are you thinking?”
That I want to find the nearest private spot and bury myself deep inside your sweet little cunt. “That your secret is safe with me, Kat.”
Her dark brows dipped low. “What secret? I don’t have secrets.”
“Sure you do. I won’t tell anyone that you’re actually a fuckin’ marshmallow. Not the big bad girl the world thinks you are.”
She was a lot nicer than she let on and I could see exactly why Madison trusted her.
“Take that back right now, Terry or…else.”
“Or else, what?” Dammit, I told myself, no more flirting with Kat until I decided she was worth risking everything.
“Or else…stop! Look!” I slammed on the brakes and stared at her.
“I’m driving, Kat.”
She let out a low, guttural growl and leaned in close so she could grab my chin in her hand and turn as she saw fit.
“Look. Over there. It’s fucking Ravager, now go!”
I saw him as soon as she swiveled my head and I backed the car up slightly, ignoring all driving laws to make a sharp left.
“Bossy.”
“Are you kidding me? That fucker is lucky if I don’t cram these red-bottomed shoes up his big dumb ass!” Her gaze never left the big man. “Who is that he’s talking to?”
Before the car could come to a complete stop, Kat jumped out and stomped across the street towards the soon-to-be-dead fighter.
“Ravager, you fucking piece of shit! Where have you been?”
At the sound of her angry voice, he looked up with wide eyes and took off running. I was out of the car instantly, chasing his big ass down the street, but he was faster than he looked and long gone by the time I caught up to Kat, scowling with her designer heels dangling from her fingertips.
“You all right?”
“I’d be a lot bett
er if I had my stun gun,” she said with a grumpy nod. “Did you see who he was talking to?”
I shook my head. “Just a flash of something. Do you know who it is?”
“No, but I have a few guesses,” she growled and the sound was both angry and erotic, a combination my cock couldn’t resist. Apparently.
“Care to share?”
“Not out here,” she said, eyes darting around search of any familiar face. “At least we know the idiot hasn’t left town yet.”
She was gorgeous in her fury, stomping back across the street in bare feet, her red toenails glistening in the desert sun.
The next few seconds unraveled slowly as my gaze went from her killer legs up to the curve of her ass. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a nondescript black car and realized it had turned behind us at the corner, but the sound of the engine drew my attention away from Kat.
The car pulled away from the curb and slowly sped up before the squeal of the tires sent my heart beating out of my fucking chest.
“Kat, watch out!”
She turned to me with wide blue eyes and dove across the hood of the car less than a full second before the black car clipped hers. “Shit!”
Her word came out on an agonizing crunch while I tried to take in every detail I could remember. Black. Chevy Blazer. 90’s. No plate. Missing passenger side mirror.
“Kat?” I rushed to where she was sprawled on the ground and picked her up in my arms. “You all right, Kitty Kat?”
She nodded and looked around the now empty street in search of clues.
“I think so, yeah. Thanks for the save.”
I didn’t need or want her thanks because I hadn’t protected her. “Don’t thank me. You fucked up your knee,” I told her when I laid eyes on the rip in her pants. “And your arm.”
Kat nodded, her hands shaking until I held them in mine. “Better than being crushed by a piece of shit Chevy. Barely better, but still.”
Her words in that moment, so ridiculous and so snarky, were typical Kat. Nothing ever got her down for long, and I couldn’t help my bark of laughter. “I’m sorry, Kat.”
“Don’t be Terry, you save me from being crushed by a Chevy. How embarrassing would that have been?” She flashed a playful smile that I wished I could return, hell that I wanted more than anything to return, but I couldn’t.
Because there was only one thought in my mind, aside from how good it felt to have Kat’s hands on me, and that was that someone had just tried to kill my Ashby Princess.
It was on like a motherfucker.
Chapter Nineteen
Kat
“I said I was fine! Stop hovering.” My words were harsh, but I was suffocating from all the concern and the literal hovering around me.
Virgil and Jasper stood right beside the sofa while Cal sat at my side holding my hand. Sadie and Maisie looked on with worried expressions near the end of the sofa and Emmett, looking worse than I felt, just paced behind the sofa, casting concerned looks my way every few seconds.
“Terry called out to me in the nick of time or else I’d have to gift all my glorious shoes to the poor.” It was a shitty attempt at humor but they all looked at me like I was at death’s door.
Jasper shook his head, vibrating with so much anger I could almost hear it and I knew he was gonna lose his shit.
“No Kat, fuck that. I want to know what the fuck happened. Nobody and I mean no fucking body fucks with my sister.”
My eyes connected with Terry’s. He wanted me to let him take the blame. But it wasn’t his fault. He saved me. “We were coming back from lunch and I spotted that Ravager motherfucker and shouted for Terry to stop so we could find out what the fuck that asshole was doing. Shit,” I paused as something clicked in my brain.
“They were following us.” My words were for Terry who nodded his agreement.
“Yeah I figured that out. Too late,” he said the last part to Jasper. “I was focused on Ravager. And not wrecking the car in the process.”
“No! Fuck that, Terry.” I turned my gaze to Jasper who was determined, for some reason, to blame someone else. “If Terry hadn’t been pulled from his job to babysit me, maybe we’d already know who just tried to kill me. He can’t be with me all the time and find Ravager. Deal with your choices, big brother.”
Jasper glared down at me and from the corner of my eyes, I noticed Sadie’s smirk.
“I was trying to protect you!” Jasper bellowed.
I nodded and softened my voice. “And because you put Terry on the case, I’m here. Alive and kicking and giving you a ton of shit. He did his job, Jas. Move the fuck on.”
I couldn’t look at Terry again, because the fact that he had saved me and the gentle way he’d touched me afterwards, had my mind and my heart going wild.
Sadie cleared her throat and all eyes swung to her. “Did either of you get any details on the car?”
Terry rattled off what he could remember, which was a lot more than I’d managed to see.
“The windows were too dark to see the driver and there was no damn plate. Might be stolen.”
Calvin nodded and stood. “I’ll check surveillance and police reports. You think this could be about the girl,” he asked me, concern in his eyes.
I hadn’t thought it was about Madison, but it was possible. I doubted Ma shared the photo with the boys because if she had, they’d already be at Mueller’s door.
“It’s possible but I don’t think they know who took her.”
Jasper nodded slightly. “It has to be The Crusaders. If it’s not about the fight, then it’s because they believe we killed Savannah.”
He was so sure of himself, but I wasn’t convinced about who was responsible.
“I have a team searching for Savannah. For now, the focus needs to be on finding Ravager and what the fuck happened. That’s the priority.”
Sadie’s steely gaze landed on Jasper, and they had one of those silent conversations before they reached some kind of agreement. He nodded and Sadie’s shoulders relaxed as she pulled a cigarette from her gold case.
“What I want to know is if the attack on Emmett was ego or something else?”
Emmett stopped pacing and shook his head; his bruises had turned an ugly shade of purple. “It wasn’t Ravager. The guy who jumped me was shorter than me but beefy as fuck. Street fighter all the way. I held my own until the other asshole showed up. If it had been Ravager, I’d be in the hospital. Or dead.” Just thinking about the attack upset Emmett and he shook his head. “I’m out. I need to go lay down.”
Terry’s eyes were filled with worry, for his brother but also for me. Sadie apparently saw the torment in his eyes and nodded.
“Go talk to your brother. See what else he remembers.”
“Thanks Sadie.”
Finally, Maisie the drill sergeant spoke. “Everyone out. Now. I’ll help get Kat cleaned up and her scars bandaged, then you guys can get back to talking about whatever it is you aren’t telling me.”
Virgil opened his mouth to say something, but Maisie put two fingers to his lips. “It’s fine, I don’t need to know. I don’t even want to know. But I want to make sure Kat is all right before I go back to the casino.”
And with a clap of her hands, Maisie the magician managed to get the toughest people I knew to disperse without an argument. “That’s pretty impressive. Can you teach me that trick?”
Maisie’s pink lips curled into a hint of a smile but her blue eyes were filled with worry. “Sure. As soon as you teach me how to dive bomb over the hood of a car. Sounds scary.”
“It happened too fast to be scared or anything else.” I closed my eyes and thought about the fear and worry that sounded in Terry’s voice. How could three little worlds hold so much emotion?
Kat watch out!
It wasn’t, I love you, but it saved me.
For today, that was good enough.
Chapter Twenty
Terry
Emmett was still upset about the attack a
nd I was happy Sadie didn’t make a big deal about me going up to check on him. Now, I hoped Emmett didn’t make a big deal about it either. Three sharp knocks on the door and I shoved one hand in my pocket and waited while my brother took his sweet ass time opening the door.
“Hey man. How you doing?”
Emmett shrugged his wide shoulders and stepped back. “I’ve been better, man. What’s up?”
“I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to you since you got your ass beat. You okay, man?”
Emmett snorted and turned away, shoving his hand through his hair as he made his way to the other side of the room. “You want to talk about me getting my ass whooped or how I’m doing?” He peered at me over his shoulder, half bitter and half sarcastic.
“Why does it have to be an either or type of situation?” I hated that he questioned if I was here for him or for the Ashby family, but it was the nature of our work.
“It doesn’t.” His shoulders fell and he dropped down into a sofa near the window, wincing slightly. “Sorry, I guess I’m out of sorts.”
I nodded and stepped inside the room, taking the slightly uncomfortable chair pushed up to a desk Em had no reason to use. “You should be out of sorts; I’m fucking furious.”
His lips curled into a grin. “Yeah, thanks. But if you were really furious, you’d send me a shit ton of food like Kat did, since you were having lunch together.” I ignored the taunt because I wasn’t touching that shit with a ten foot pole. Not even a twenty foot one.
“Walk me through what happened.”
Emmett laughed. “So much for being furious,” he snorted under his breath. When his expression sobered, I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees and listened to every fucking detail.
“After the fight at Emerald Isle, I went back to the locker room to clear my head. The night was mostly a success but something didn’t feel right about Ravager’s win, and I didn’t want to think about it with fuckin’ cameras and microphones in my face.” His gaze damn neared pierced through me and I knew he suspected the truth, knew it in his heart, but he didn’t want confirmation.
“Anyway, the locker room was empty. Suspiciously empty right after a big fight like that. So, it took no time to grab up the House of Ashby swag and then I left, thinking I’d talk to the fighters in the morning. Chicken shit, but it is what it is.”